Morning News Call - India, April 20

Reuters Staff

6 Min Read

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FACTORS TO WATCH
10:00 am: Coal Minister Piyush Goyal to speak at an event in New Delhi.
11:00 am: Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya at an event in New Delhi.
12:00 am: Housing & Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu to speak at an
event in New Delhi.
4:00 pm: Rural Development Minister Narendra Tomar at an event in New Delhi.
INDIA TOP NEWS
• India's Yes Bank Q4 profit up 30 pct, beats estimates
India's Yes Bank Ltd on Wednesday posted higher-than-expected quarterly net
profit, helped by higher interest and other income.
• India's IndusInd Bank Q4 net profit rises 21 pct
IndusInd Bank, India's sixth-biggest private sector lender by assets,
reported a 21 percent rise in its fourth-quarter profit on higher interest
income, while its bad-loan ratio eased sequentially.
• Tata Motors to export some older-technology trucks after court ban
Tata Motors is planning to export some of its unsold stock of
older-technology trucks, after an unexpected ban on their sale in India, a
senior company executive said on Wednesday.
• India's BigBasket in talks for possible merger with Grofers India - report
India's online grocery delivery service BigBasket and smaller rival Grofers
India Pvt. Ltd. have begun talks on a possible merger, Indian newspaper Mint
reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
• India's Paytm in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion -
report
Electronics payments provider Paytm is in talks with Japan's SoftBank Group
to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion in cash, making the latter one of the largest
shareholders in the fintech start-up, Mint newspaper reported on Wednesday
citing sources.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS
• North Korea says don't mess with us as U.S. plans next move
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at
ways to pressure North Korea over its nuclear programme as North Korean state
media warned the Americans of a "super-mighty preemptive strike", saying don't
"mess with us".
• Britain's May wins parliament's backing for June 8 snap election
Prime Minister Theresa May won parliament's backing for an early election on
Wednesday, a vote she said would strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the
European Union and help heal divisions in Britain.
• EXCLUSIVE-Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 US election -
documents
A Russian government think tank controlled by Vladimir Putin developed a
plan to swing the 2016 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump and undermine
voters’ faith in the American electoral system, three current and four former
U.S. officials told Reuters.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK
(As reported by NewsRise)
• The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 9,130.50, trading down 0.05 pct from
its previous close.
• The Indian rupee will likely open lower against the dollar, tracking its
Asian peers as risk sentiment took a hit after crude oil prices fell to two-week
lows, and as caution ahead of French presidential elections kept investors on
edge.
• Indian government bonds will likely fall tracking the slight gains
overnight in U.S. yields and ahead of a scheduled weekly debt sale tomorrow. The
yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a
6.83 pct-6.88 pct band today. The bond closed at 100.79 rupees yesterday,
yielding 6.85 pct.
GLOBAL MARKETS
• The S&P 500 and Dow closed lower and the Nasdaq advanced on Wednesday as
investors digested the latest round of earnings, while a drop in oil prices
weighed on the energy sector.
• Japanese stocks rose as the yen's strong trend paused and the country's
strong trade data lifted sentiment, but mining shares underperformed on the back
of a steep decline oil prices.
• The dollar caught its breath in Asian trading, holding above lows hit
earlier this week as investors anxiously awaited this weekend's first round of
presidential voting in France.
• U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as traders waited on a new catalyst
for direction, after a rally on Tuesday sent yields to five-month lows prompted
by concerns about the French election and rising geopolitical tensions.
• Oil prices regained some ground after steep losses the previous day, with
a slight drop in U.S. crude inventories stoking hopes that a push to rein in
global oversupply could be gathering at least some momentum.
• Gold held firm, after falling as much as 1 percent the previous day, as
tensions surrounding North Korea and the upcoming French presidential election
offered support to the safe-haven asset amid a firmer dollar.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT
PNDF spot 64.57/64.60 April 19 -$104.1 mln $10.37 mln
10-yr bond yield 7.14 Month-to-date -$262.6 mln $3.58 bln
Year-to-date $6.52 bln $9.05 bln
For additional data:
India govt bond market volumes
Stock market reports
Non-deliverable forwards data
Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD]
Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT]
Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN]
($1 = 64.6300 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nayyar Rasheed in Bengaluru)